Superstar From Age 0

“Ready, action!”

Jung Ga-ram, who had been frozen for a moment, came to his senses and called out to the boy who was casually wiping off the water.

“You, you…!”

Jung Ga-ram got up without shaking off the sand and headed toward the boy. Then he asked cautiously, but honestly.

“…Did you… not want to die?”

The boy, who was wiping his arm with a faded towel, opened his mouth sarcastically.

“Why would someone who wants to die bring a towel?”

“No… I mean… that's true, but…”

Jung Ga-ram, who was still soaked unlike the boy who had dried off a lot, hesitated and said. But the boy's mood a little while ago looked so weak that he seemed to be swept away by the waves at any moment.

While Jung Ga-ram was hesitating, the boy quickly wiped off the water and got up from his seat with his wet towel in his bag.

Jung Ga-ram quickly grabbed the boy's bag. The boy turned around.

“Uh… excuse me… can I borrow your towel?”

He rolled his eyes awkwardly and smiled sheepishly.

The boy looked at him silently and then sighed and handed him the wet towel.

“Thank you!”

Jung Ga-ram quickly took the towel and wiped off the seawater.

The towel was already wet, so it didn't absorb much, but it was better than nothing.

He wondered if he had to go back to his accommodation on the bus soaked from morning.

He was lucky.

The boy, who was watching him, put on his coat that was next to his bag.

It was waterproof, but unlike Jung Ga-ram's padding that was quite wet, it didn't have a drop of water on it.

Jung Ga-ram's shoulders drooped a little.

He seemed to have misunderstood.

‘But if you go in with clothes on in the morning like this… everyone will think like me…’

If he had been wearing a swimsuit, or at least taken off his top, he wouldn't have misunderstood.

‘Was it too cold to take it off?’

Jung Ga-ram, who had been thinking for a moment, squeezed the towel with all his might.

Drip. Seawater poured like rain.

He wiped off the water roughly a few times and returned the towel to the boy.

“Here. Thanks for letting me use it.”

The boy silently stuffed the towel into his bag.

Jung Ga-ram smiled awkwardly at his displeasure.

The boy turned around with his bag and Jung Ga-ram also shook off his padding and picked up his phone and selfie stick to go back to his accommodation.

He wanted to see the sunrise, but he felt like he would catch a cold if he stayed longer.

He felt a little chilly.

“I’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

He had time left anyway.

He smiled faintly and put his hand in his wet pocket of his padding.

Huh?

He couldn't feel what he should have felt.

He turned his pockets inside out.

It was gone. Gone!

He flipped over his padding and shook it vigorously.

The sea that was gradually brightening came into view.

His eyes widened.

‘No way…?’

No way kills people.

It was obvious that his card with his travel money was somewhere in that wide and blue sea when he saw his empty pocket.

He lost his card with his travel money in an instant and washed his face dry. He had an emergency card at his accommodation, but it was quite far from here to there.

He saw the boy walking slowly in despair. He ran to him without thinking.

“Hey! Listen!”

The boy sighed as if he had been caught wrong and frowned as he turned around. Jung Ga-ram, whose face seemed a little pale from the cold weather or running, smiled awkwardly and opened his mouth.

“Uh… can you lend me some money for the fare…”

The boy sighed again and said.

“I don't have any money.”

“…Oh …Oh, I’ll pay you back right away. I have a card at my accommodation. No, actually… I think it fell into the sea.”

‘I think it fell into the sea trying to save you.’

He changed his words.

He must have been mistaken by the fact that he had left both the towel and coat outside.

A chilly wind blew.

Both Jung Ga-ram and the boy shivered because of it.

The boy rolled his eyes for a moment and then nodded.

“If you can follow me home.”

“Thank you!”

Jung Ga-ram smiled brightly at the boy's answer.

He thought he would hesitate, but he answered quickly.

He must have been very cold too.

As soon as the boy started walking, Jung Ga-ram shouted.

“Oh! Wait! I’ll get my phone! Wait! Wait here!”

He almost left his phone and selfie stick behind this time.

The boy looked at him incredulously as he ran like a calf with a fire on his tail, checking behind him from time to time.

A moment later.

Jung Ga-ram came back with his phone and walked home with the boy.

“Cut, okay!”

The staff rushed over and handed towels to the two actors.

They looked cold as they were wet from going into the sea.

The two actors, seo-jun and Kim Han-seok, wrapped in white towels, returned to the waiting room with relaxed faces.

There were two cups of warm citron tea prepared in the waiting room, which was warmed by the heater.

Seo-jun and Kim Han-seok, who wrapped themselves in towels like mummies, drank the warm citron tea with a relaxed face.

***

The sky slowly brightened and the sun rose.

While the staff were watching the sunrise, director Min Hee-kyung watched the footage.

The planning team leader and the cinematography director also looked at the monitor with interest.

“Is it okay?”

“Yes. Han-seok and Seo-jun did well.”

Director Min Hee-kyung answered the question of the planning team leader and continued.

“Manager. We’ll finish shooting for today. You can go to the waiting room and change your clothes.”

“Yes. I got it.”

Ahn Da Ho nodded and headed to the waiting room.

The assistant director moved to clean up the set for the wrap-up.

The set became noisy with preparations for departure.

Director Min Hee-kyung watched the footage again.

She saw the dark Kwon Yoon-chan and the bright Jung Ga-ram, who had only lived in her imagination.

“It's not a hasty acting…”

“That's right.”

The cinematography director admired Kim Han-seok's acting.

The planning team leader agreed.

Director Min Hee-kyung smiled and said.

“He practiced with Seo-jun.”

“It's amazing that Seo-jun's acting doesn't show. I thought he would show him an example because he had a short preparation period. Usually, when you show an example, you follow it.”

If he followed someone, it would have been obvious.

In that short time, Kim Han-seok's acting absorbed the character completely.

“This actor has a talent for teaching.”

Usually, geniuses can't teach, she heard.

As expected of Lee Seo-jun. She couldn't help but admire him.

“Han-seok also learned well.”

The three people who were watching Seo-jun and Kim Han-seok's passionate performance on the monitor smiled with satisfaction.

***

Director Min Hee Kyung called Seo-jun and Kim Han-seok when they returned to their accommodation.

Seo-jun looked energetic, but Kim Han-seok seemed a bit sleepy after waking up early and washing up with warm water.

“You both did a great job today.”

“It took a long time to prepare, but the filming was over quickly.”

“That's because you did so well that we didn't need to reshoot anything.”

Seo-jun smiled brightly at Director Min's words. Kim Han-seok also giggled at the compliment.

“We still have some time left until the filming of the scene with Kwon Yoon-chan, so Han-seok, you can keep your acting tone and analyze it more deeply. And Seo-jun, you can start filming from Seoul next week.”

“Yes!”

“Okay.”

Director Min talked about the schedule and the filming for a while and then left the waiting room. Ahn Da Ho opened his mouth.

“Do you want to have some fun since we’re in Busan? Or do you want to go back right away?”

At his words, Kim Han-seok opened his half-closed eyes wide. His sleepy face looked like he had woken up completely.

“Seo-jun hyung. Let's go watch Phantom!”

“Should we?”

Kim Han-seok asked with a hopeful face.

‘My friends said they were going to watch it today.’

“Okay, let's do that.”

“And let's eat pork soup too! They say it's good for your body when you feel chilly!”

Seo-jun and Ahn Da Ho burst into laughter at Kim Han-seok's words.

***

Kim Jong-ho: Pork soup?

Kim Jong-ho: That place has the best pork soup.

Kim Jong-ho: (address)

Seo-jun and Kim Han-seok headed to the pork soup restaurant that Kim Jong-ho recommended.

The wall of the old-looking pork soup restaurant was full of celebrities’ signatures.

There were also signatures of their acquaintances, such as Kim Jong-ho, Lee Ji-seok, and Park Do-hoon.

“Don't you have to sign too, hyung?”

Kim Han-seok asked with a grin. Seo-jun smiled slightly.

“Then we won't be able to go around today, right?”

“That's true. But don't you need to come with your manager?”

Kim Han-seok looked around cautiously.

It was an awkward time to eat breakfast or lunch, but there were a few customers because it was a famous restaurant.

There were also some young customers who seemed to be on a trip.

Wouldn't people swarm in if they were discovered? Worried about that, seo-jun said with a smile.

“It's okay. We have bodyguards.”

Ahn Da Ho didn't come with them, saying they should enjoy themselves, but there were two people who were guarding them nearby.

“…Bodyguards?”

“They came with us from Seoul.”

“I didn't notice at all.”

Kim Han-seok looked around with sparkling eyes, trying to find the bodyguards.

“Is it him?”

“No.”

“Him? Or the man over there?”

“Nope.”

Seo-jun and the bodyguards in plain clothes laughed at Kim Han-seok's wild guesses. Kim Han-seok's bodyguard hunt stopped when the pork soup came out.

“Enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you.”

The white broth was boiling in the earthen pot.

Seo-jun took a spoonful of the broth and adjusted the seasoning to his taste.

He started eating as Kim Han-seok said.

The warm broth made him feel hot in his chilly body.

‘It's delicious!’

It was a place worthy of Uncle Jong-ho's recommendation.

Kim Han-seok, who was sitting in front of Seo-jun, was also eating eagerly with a flushed face.

The breakfast he had before filming seemed to have been digested already.

“Hyung. Let's look around Busan while we’re filming here.”

“Yeah. Let's do that.”

“If we had come a week earlier, we could have seen the fireworks festival… I'm sad.”

“We wouldn't have been able to film if there were so many people.”

“That's true.”

Kim Han-seok nodded his head, but still looked regretful. Seo-jun said with a smile.

“If the director allows it, how about buying some small fireworks and trying them out?”

“Yes! Let's bring a lot!”

After filling their stomachs with delicious pork soup, seo-jun and Kim Han-seok headed to a nearby movie theater.

It was the opening day of [Phantom], so there were a lot of people, but luckily there were some seats left in the corner.

Seo-jun and Kim Han-seok entered theater 7 where [Phantom] was playing.

Two hours later.

Kim Han-seok, who had a seed hotteok in his hand, opened his mouth.

“It was fun, but I felt a bit unsatisfied.”

Seo-jun also took a bite of the seed hotteok in his hand.

He liked the texture of the sunflower seeds.

“Maybe it's because it's the first part?”

“The first part?”

Kim Han-seok tilted his head at Seo-jun's words.

“It's the first part, so they had to put a lot of things in it. It got complicated. They had to explain how the character became a hero, what his belief was, and so on. They had to explain and also finish the story of one part.” 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“Oh…”

“For those who knew Phantom from the comics, the explanation was boring, and for those who didn't know Phantom at all, the explanation was hard. The pacing was important, but I guess the script team tried to make it too perfect.”

It was the first work for the next 10 years, so they couldn't help but put a lot of effort into it.

And unlike the movies of season 1, which were made comfortably without any expectations or standards, the movies of season 2 had high expectations and standards.

“They must have felt pressured because of season 1.”

“I see.”

“The movie itself wasn't bad. The second part will be important. And if they want to make a movie like [Assemble] where all the heroes come together, they also need to digest this evaluation well in the next new hero movies.”

“Marina Studio must have a lot of worries.”

“I guess so.”

As he ate the seed hotteok, Kim Han-seok suddenly remembered something and asked.

“Seo-jun hyung. If you got the script, would you have played Phantom?”

Wouldn't the movie have been different if Lee Seo-jun had played Phantom?

Kim Han-seok asked with curiosity. Seo-jun answered casually.

“The script wasn't that good. The movie looked like the director did his best.”

Huh?

Kim Han-seok quickly understood what he meant by his words.

He had learned how to read the character's true feelings through dialogue with Seo-jun in their ‘Learn the character's true feelings through dialogue!’ class.

He opened his mouth wide.

“You got the script?!”

Why didn't the reporters write such a bombshell article?!

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders at Kim Han-seok's surprised expression.

“It just came in for me to read it, not to ask me to star in it. I still had Jin Natra's image, so Marina Studio didn't seem to expect much from me.”

He would have ignored Jin Natra's image and starred in it if he liked the script, but it wasn't that good.

“But you could still do another series movie, right?”

Kim Han-seok looked more regretful than him. Seo-jun said with a smile.

“I also got the script for Survivors back then.”

“Oh, then you should do Survivors. I can watch Survivors a hundred times.”

Kim Han-seok quickly agreed with Seo-jun's words and nodded his head repeatedly.